Lecture: From Miklagard to Istanbul: Moving the Senses

 

Ayhan Kaya (Istanbul Bilgi University), Helena Bodin (Stockholm University), Lora Sariaslan (Utrecht University)

Netherlands Instittute in Turkey, Anamed Auditorium

25 Oct 15:00 - 17:00

 

On October 25, 2024, an event took place at the Anamed Auditorium, featuring lectures by Prof. Ayhan Kaya and Prof. Helena Bodin. The program concluded with a dynamic roundtable discussion moderated by Dr. Lora Sariaslan.

Both modern and ancient, Istanbul is unique. It has been a nexus for diverse encounters and exchanges with Northern Europe as early as the ninth century CE when Viking mercenaries came to Istanbul, which they called “Miklagard” (The Great City). This event focused on Istanbul at the intersection of mobilities: past and present as well as private and public.

 

Finding refuge in Istanbul: From the Vikings onward

Prof. Ayhan Kaya, Istanbul Bilgi University

Istanbul has long stood at the intersection of various tribes, cultures, religions, empires, and traditions. This talk provides a historical overview of immigration to Istanbul, beginning in the 7th and 8th centuries, when large migrations of Slavs, Arabs, Turks, Vikings, among others took place. Arabs from the Middle East and Moors from al-Andalus sought to spread Islam in and around Constantinople, dramatically altering the city’s demographic landscape. In addition to the ethno-cultural diversity shaped by wars and invasions, historical records indicate that in the 10th century, the Byzantine emperor forcibly relocated hundreds of thousands of Slavic warriors from the Balkans to Constantinople and Asia Minor to defend the Empire against Arab incursions. Byzantine efforts to strengthen the city against the Arabs and other tribes also included welcoming Viking warriors into the city during the same period. This migration pattern continued during the Ottoman Empire, with Istanbul serving as a refuge for various groups fleeing persecution by neighboring imperial powers, such as the Romanovs and Habsburgs. Over the centuries, Istanbul became a city that hosted an array of ethnicities, cultures, and religions—including Crimeans, Circassians, Bosniaks, Poles, Pomaks, and, more recently, Syrians. After the Ottoman conquest, Istanbul maintained its multicultural and cosmopolitan character until the late 19th century, when it gradually became more Islamized. Against this backdrop, this talk aims to illustrate how Istanbul has consistently served as a Third Space where diverse mobile groups, traditions, histories, and religions have merged into a rich amalgamation of cultures.

Ayhan Kaya is Professor of Politics and Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics of Interculturalism at the Department of International Relations, Istanbul Bilgi University; Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence; a member of the Science Academy, Turkey (since 2012); and a member of the British Academy (since 2024).

 

Seclusion versus accessibility: The harems of Constantinople in stories by Elsa Lindberg-Dovlette

Prof. Helena Bodin, Stockholm University

This talk focuses on stories by the Swedish writer Elsa Lindberg-Dovlette (1876–1944), in which life in the harems of Constantinople in the early twentieth century is portrayed from the perspective of female insiders. In 1902, she married a Persian diplomat and prince, Mirza Riza Khan Arfa, and lived in his harem in Constantinople as his sole wife, where she gave birth to two children. The harem as a cultural space in Lindberg-Dovlette’s stories is distinctly hybrid, combining Parisian fashion, European languages, and Ottoman traditions. The “world-making” of her stories is informed by the limited and distorted perspective both from inside the harem and from behind the veil, but simultaneously also by the distinctive perspective of a young and—as it seems—emancipated Swedish woman, voluntarily living in a traditional harem.

Helena Bodin is Professor of Literature at Stockholm University. Her research focuses on the functions of literature at the boundaries between languages, nations, arts and media. In particular, she has studied modern literature’s engagement with the Byzantine Orthodox Christian tradition and been engaged in literary multilingualism studies, with a special interest in issues of heterographics or multiscriptism.

Moderator: Lora Sariaslan
Lora Sariaslan is Assistant Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at Utrecht University. She previously taught at the University of Texas at Austin and University of Amsterdam. In addition to being an academic, she has been a curator in different institutions globally. She was assistant curator at the Dallas Museum of Art in Texas and curator at Istanbul Modern.

Organizers
Prof. Ayhan Kaya, Director, European Institute, Jean Monnet Chair, Istanbul Bilgi University
Dr. Anje Müller Gjesdal, Associate Professor of French Language, Østfold University College
Dr. Lora Sariaslan, Assistant Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, Utrecht University
Dr. Camilla Skalle, Associate Professor of Italian Literature, University of Bergen

 

About the location

Netherlands Instittute in Turkey
Anamed Auditorium, Istiklal Cad. No 181 Merkez Han
34433 Istanbul